{"nrhp_refnum":"79000373","name":"Gardner News Building","other_names":["state survey no.:216"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"309 Central St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Gardner","county":"Worcester County","state":"MA","lat":42.57646704100006,"lon":-71.99507810399996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-11-14","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Communications"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story brick commercial building at 309 Central Street, at the corner of Central and Vernon Streets in downtown Gardner, Massachusetts. It was designed in 1906 by a Boston architectural firm and houses the Gardner News.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building keeps its integrity of location, design, materials and workmanship. It has been the continuous home of a major local newspaper since 1906, which is strongly tied to the city's development. The paper served the community as chronicler, educator, commentator and voice.","narrative":"Standing at the corner of Central and Vernon Streets in downtown Gardner, this utilitarian brick building has housed the Gardner News since it was designed in 1906 by a Boston architectural firm. It is trapezoidal in plan and, because the site slopes, rises three stories at the front but only two at the rear. The seven-bay facade is loosely divided into three parts, with brick pilasters, horizontal brick bands, sandstone trim, copper oriels on the second story and a decorative brick cornice. The western side continues the decorative brickwork, while the north and east sides are plain. The newspaper began publishing on July 3, 1869, as a four-page weekly with 350 subscribers, and merged with the Gardner Daily in 1897. The building was listed because it retains its original design, materials and workmanship, and because its long role as home of a major newspaper ties it closely to the city's development.","period_of_significance":"1906","architect_builder":"Fox & Gale, Boston, Massachusetts","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Marked occupied, private, commercial use, in excellent condition; the parapet and possibly some other areas may have been repointed or rebuilt.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:53.142848-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/84/7972/63797284/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/79000373.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79000373/68d5d81ad0-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79000373/68d5d81ad0-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Marcbela (Marc N. Belanger)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gardner_News.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Marcbela (Marc N. Belanger)</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gardner_News.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"85003185","name":"West Gardner Square Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/massachusetts/west-gardner-square-historic-district-85003185/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63797284","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gardner_News_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5522609"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/worcester-county/gardner-news-building-79000373/"}